Page 6 of In His Skates

“I’ve been looking at her all morning. I’m sick of it already.”

I spot garlic bread and don’t think twice—I grab a couple. Leigh is so smug about her acting skills. Let’s see her pretend she’s in love with me after I eat all this garlic.

3 LEIGH

“Oh dear,” Flora blurts out of the blue.

“What?”

“Your aura changed drastically just now. It turned dark. You’re angry about something.”

Sometimes I forget about this side of Flora. She’s very much into energy, auras, and other things I can’t wrap my head around.

“No surprise there. Look who’s in the room,” Bobbi pipes up.

“I don’t fol—oh, I see it now. That blond hockey player who’s staring at you also has a very dark aura.”

I follow Flora’s line of sight, but I already know she’s referring to Keanu. “Yeah, that tracks. He’s a dick, and I hate him,” I seethe.

Flora furrows her brows. “You can’t possibly hate anyone. You’re too good for that.”

“Oh no. She can. You don’t know what Keanu Santori did to her,” Bobbi replies.

Flora keeps staring at Keanu. “He has conflicting feelings about you.”

“Trust me. There’s no conflict there. It’s pure hatred, and the feeling is mutual.”

I grab a salad, ignoring the dressings that are available. Everything will give me bad breath, and I will not have Keanu saying my breath stinks.

“He doesn’t hate you,” Flora says with conviction. “His emotions toward you are mixed. I’m getting the sense there are unresolved issues between you two.”

I shake my head. “There’s nothing unresolved between us. Trust me. Keanu has hated me ever since we were kids. Maybe he’s jealous that I’m best friends with his sister.”

I head to a table far from Keanu and take a seat, Flora and Bobbi following me. A moment later, the brown-haired guy who was with Keanu walks over sporting the biggest smile. He must be the player shooting the commercial with Celine.

“Hi, Leigh. Just came by to introduce myself. I’m Jack Schaefer.” He offers me his hand. “I’m a huge fan.”

Shaking his hand, I smile. “Nice to meet you.”

He looks at the empty chair next to mine. “Do you mind if I sit down?”

I search for Keanu and find him glaring in our direction. He doesn’t seem happy that his teammate is acting friendly toward me. That gives me even more reason to be extra nice.

I give Jack my most radiant smile. “I don’t mind that at all.”

“Sweet!” He pulls up a chair, but even sitting down, he towers over me. He must be six-five or six-six. “Man, when they said you’d be shooting this commercial for Pop Soda Pop, I hoped I’d be paired with you.”

“It would have been nice.”

His lips curl into what I assume is his flirty smile. “Oh yeah? Well… just because we didn’t get to work together doesn’t mean we can’t hang out later.”

Before I can reply, Keanu takes the last empty chair at our round table, which incidentally is the one across from me. “You don’t mind if I join you for lunch, do you, Leigh?”

“Not at all.” I force a smile.

Keanu studies me for a couple of beats before he turns to Bobbi. “I see you’re still Leigh’s sidekick.”

“Yes, and you’re still a thorn in her side.”